North Korean Mends Old Ties On a Mission To Vietnam

By DON KIRK

Published: July 15, 2001

SEOUL, South Korea, July 14—
North Korea's second in command won words of praise but no promises of rice for his hungry country as he ended a three-day visit to Vietnam.

In a communiqué issued today after the talks, Vietnam congratulated North Korea for ''overcoming economic hardship,'' though Vietnam now prefers to do business with capitalist South Korea.

Without commenting on that, North Korea commended Vietnam's ''economic progress.''

Then, in a reminder of a shared past, both countries harked back to their historical relationship, which was a friendship molded by their common enemies.

If he achieved no immediate dividends, the Korean, Kim Yong Nam, the North's titular leader as chairman of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, may have restored a relationship that appeared at the height of the Vietnam war not only intense but altogether logical.

Like Korea, Vietnam was once divided by a ''demilitarized zone,'' this one set up by the Geneva agreement of 1954 at the 17th parallel, which separated North Vietnam from South Vietnam.

Supported militarily and diplomatically by both the Soviet Union and China, North Vietnam and North Korea fought their own terrible wars against the United States. The parallels ended with the defeat of the American-backed government in Saigon in 1975. While Vietnam was united, Korea remained divided at the demilitarized zone set up just one year before Vietnam's, when the Korean War ended in a truce in 1953.

Responding to economic needs, Vietnam in 1992 recognized South Korea, which had sent two divisions to fight for South Vietnam, and Vietnam opened wide to South Korean trade and investment.

''For North Korea, rice is the most important issue,'' said Kim Song Chul, of the Korea Institute of National Unification, an adjunct of the South Korean Unification Ministry.

''Vietnam is also in poor condition. It does not want to provide humanitarian assistance.''

Nor, he said, does North Korea have much to offer Vietnam in a trade deal. ''Vietnam is not interested in missiles,'' he said.

Vietnam's president, Tran Duc Luong, avoided specifics when he expressed ''sincere thanks'' to Mr. Kim for all the ''valuable support'' during the war.

Diplomats say that Mr. Kim may have gone to Hanoi in search of diplomatic help, in addition to food and trade.